American Psycho's Killer Gaze

Extract

[...] about than Sri Lanka. We have to end Apartheid and slow down the nuclear arms race, stop terrorism and world hunger, provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote Civil Rights while also promoting equal rights for women . we have to promote social concern and less materialization in young people. (American Psycho) But the tone of Bateman's speech sounds indifferent, and to the viewer and Bateman's friends it is an ironic lecture, since Bateman—an investment banker by trade—exemplifies materialization. [...]

[...] In turn, this look returns a guilty gaze on Bateman, who is perhaps shamed or angered by his identification with the ideal ego. Thus, as an extreme response Bateman murders Paul Allen and not only gains control of him in doing so but also takes Mulvey's theory one step further by actually assuming Paul Allen's identity and living in his apartment. There is a theme of mistaken identity throughout American Psycho that supports the argument that Bateman does not really exist in the narrative. [...]

[...] For example, in the voiceover scene after his daily routine, Bateman hints at his own fabrication or nonexistence and the gaze it emits: “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable I simply am not there” (American Psycho). [...]